Trump says he’d ‘rather not destroy’ Iran but may ‘have to’: ‘You’ll know soon enough’

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would “rather not destroy” Iran and that his decision on the matter will be clear “soon enough,” amid reports that Washington and Tehran were reviewing proposals regarding the Iranian nuclear program.

Trump’s remarks — the latest of numerous times he has threatened to bombard the Islamic Republic — came two days after his Republican Party was trounced in the US midterm elections, a defeat he and Vice President JD Vance have attributed to the unpopular Iran war and its fallout. But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has faced scrutiny since the midterms, defended the war, hailing it as a “historic” bid to keep Iran from gaining nuclear arms. Trump has said he is standing by Hegseth.

The bellicose threats also came alongside continuing diplomacy. The New York Times on Thursday cited five officials, including two from Iran and one from the US, as saying Tehran was reviewing “concrete proposals” presented by Qatari-led mediators regarding its nuclear program.

A senior Iranian official also told Reuters that Washington was reviewing a nuclear proposal that Tehran sent via Qatar. But the official said the proposal would be discussed only when the US meets Iran’s seven demands.

Those demands, presented in August, include compensation for war damages, unfreezing Iranian assets, lifting sanctions, ending the naval blockade on Iran, withdrawing troops from the region, permanently ending the war with Iran and its allies — generally taken to be a reference to the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah — and committing not to threaten Iran again.

Asked Thursday about reports that Iranian negotiators were reviewing the nuclear proposals, Trump told the press at the Oval Office, “They’re not doing anything without our approval.”

“It doesn’t make a difference what they’re looking at. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

“In Iran… we control everything that we want to control,” Trump claimed to reporters, adding that it would take Iran 25 years to rebuild.

“Now we will make a decision: Do we want to go further and certify it? By certifying it, meaning, it’ll never happen again,” he said. “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I’ll have to. You’ll know soon enough.”

TRUMP: "We will make a decision on Iran. Do we want to go further and certify it so that it will never happen again? I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You will know soon enough." pic.twitter.com/hWt4hMuI8r

— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) November 5, 2026

Following those comments, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held a phone call with Trump on Friday in which they discussed diplomatic efforts to ease regional tensions, a Qatari statement said.

The leaders discussed Qatar’s mediation efforts toward a comprehensive agreement with Iran to end the regional crisis, the statement said, adding that Qatar’s ruler stressed the need to avoid further escalation, ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and secure energy supplies.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed on Thursday also discussed regional developments and diplomatic efforts for stability in the region, according to Araghchi’s Telegram channel.

The US and Israel launched the war with Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

Iran responded with strikes on Israel and Arab states as well as a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, choking off about a fifth of the world’s oil shipments and sparking a global spike in energy prices.

The US launched its own blockade on Iranian ports shortly after the war entered a shaky truce in April, after which Israel largely stopped bombing Iran. Further skirmishes have occasionally erupted between the US and Iran over control of the strait.

On Friday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said two oil tankers caught fire after striking mines while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz using unauthorized routes, according to state media.

Putin hosts Iranian security chief at Kremlin

Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei at the Kremlin to discuss the construction of a new gas pipeline between the two countries, which could help Iran mitigate the fuel shortage exacerbated by the war and US sanctions, Iranian state media said.

Russia and Iran, two of the most heavily sanctioned states in the world, have grown closer since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In early October, Putin also said Russia was prepared to take part in mediation to bring an end to the Iran war.

Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told reporters after Thursday’s meeting that it was “an extremely important exchange,” according to remarks reported by the Iranian embassy.

The aim of the new pipeline would be to enable Iran “to address its own gas shortages while also facilitating the sale of Russian gas to neighboring countries,” Rezaei said.

He added that during the meeting Putin stressed the need for regional security mechanisms and “the inadmissibility of any interference by external powers” in resolving the situation in the Middle East.

While it is a major producer, Iran has long suffered shortages of natural gas, essential for powering heating systems. The country heavily subsidizes fuel and has some of the lowest gasoline prices in the world, but announced in September that it would raise prices amid the shortage.

The increase was discussed by the government and postponed amid concerns it could trigger new protests. Iran experienced widespread protests in 2019 over the same issue.

On ‘chopping block’ after midterms, Hegseth hails ‘historic’ war

After Democrats, backed by voters enraged by gas price hikes, rebuked Trump’s Republicans in the midterm elections, Hegseth vowed in a video statement on Thursday to fight potential Congressional efforts to impeach him.

The nearly six-minute video was published on social media as taunts from Hegseth’s foes in Congress intensified and as Trump swatted away questions about firing the defense secretary. US Vice President JD Vance also publicly attributed Republicans’ losses to the Iran war and asked if the conflict was worth it.

Hegseth in the video defended his stewardship of the Pentagon and boasted about firing senior Pentagon leaders, ending diversity initiatives and banning transgender individuals from the military.

“You see, they attack me — they attack us — because we are effective. It’s not going to work. We will not back down,” Hegseth said to the camera.

Calling the impeachment effort a “sham,” Hegseth noted Trump himself was impeached twice.

“It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. It didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that,” he said.

Hegseth also appealed to “patriotic” lawmakers to pass a $1.5 trillion funding request that aims to help the Pentagon pay for the Iran war and other spending priorities.

“Regardless of how people feel about the war, which I believe is a courageous and historic effort that will ensure Iran never gets nuclear weapons, we need to continue, as President Trump did in his first term, to rebuild our military,” Hegseth said.

At the War Department:
We Stand.
We Fight.
We Defend the Republic. pic.twitter.com/Kkr0DazmCE

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 5, 2026

Trump himself praised Hegseth on Thursday, telling reporters in the Oval Office that the defense secretary has “done a fantastic job.”

The president suggested opposition to Hegseth may have been connected to the defense secretary’s firing of generals.

“We had so many generals. Everybody was a four-star general. I never saw anything like it. And many of those people were woke. I don’t like a woke general. And so, he probably has opposition,” Trump said.

The Pentagon has also said Hegseth is “100 percent committed” to leading it until the end of Trump’s term.

However, sources have said Trump could still replace Hegseth as Republicans assess their election losses.

One Trump adviser said Hegseth “could be on the chopping block” because of the Iran war.

Hegseth could also face scrutiny from Democrats over his Ukraine policy and US military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in Latin American waters, which some Democrats say could amount to war crimes.